Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole

O'TOOLE URGES ATTORNEY GENERAL TO MAKE CORRUPTION INVESTIGATIONS A TOP PRIORITY

FOCUSES ON TAXPAYER WASTE IN STATE PRE-SCHOOL PROGRAM, AMONG SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS AND IN THE SCC
May 11, 2006
Assemblyman Kevin O’Toole/973-696-2323
Assembly Republican Office/609-292-5339

O'TOOLE URGES ATTORNEY GENERAL TO MAKE CORRUPTION INVESTIGATIONS A TOP PRIORITY

FOCUSES ON TAXPAYER WASTE IN STATE PRE-SCHOOL PROGRAM, AMONG SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS AND IN THE SCC

Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole today said that he intends to hold Attorney General Zulima Farber to her promise to have an unprecedented focus on stamping out public corruption and questioned her on the status of investigations into the recently uncovered abuse of tax dollars by school administrators, pre-school operators and the School Construction Corporation (SCC).

"It is my hope that the Attorney General will carry out her pledge to work aggressively toward eliminating the recent wave of public corruption which has sullied our state’s reputation," said O'Toole, R-Essex, Passaic, and Bergen. "There are numerous government corruption investigations which have been languishing and I think the taxpayers of this state want to know that these matters are being adequately pursued by our Attorney General."

The Record published a report last month detailing numerous examples of waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars in New Jersey's preschool program for low-income children.

The story cites a Jersey City preschool owner who charged state taxpayers for a Caribbean time share two years in a row and a Hoboken center that collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in state funds without telling New Jersey that the federal government had already paid for the same preschoolers.

Other examples of waste and abuse include payments for luxury car leases, Omaha steaks, shrimp, Godiva chocolates, wedding gifts, and motorcycle insurance. Even cat food purchases were buried in the books along with inflated rents, six-figure salaries and $900,000 in personal loans.

This report came on the heels of a State Commission of Investigation (SCI) report revealing numerous instances in which top school administrators collected total monetary compensation in excess of salaries set forth in contracts. This included cashing-in of inordinate amounts of unused sick and vacation time both on an annual basis and at the time of retirement.

The SCI also found instances in which questionable, if not patently improper, steps have been taken to inflate pensions by padding earnings throughout the course of employment.

Last year the Inspector General issued a 15-page report a report detailing rampant waste and abuse in the School Construction Corporation (SCC) saying that the SCC was "vulnerable to mismanagement, fiscal malfeasance, conflicts of interest and waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars."

"These reports have been successful in uncovering the ways in which tax dollars are being wasted, but only the Attorney General can hold those who may have broken the law accountable," O'Toole said. “We must not only put a stop to these abuses of tax dollars, but those individuals who crossed the line and violated the law should be prosecuted."

O'Toole said he hoped the Attorney General would be more aggressive in pursuing corruption among public officials than her predecessor.

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